Named after his father Lucien and commonly known as Junior, Lessard entered the 2004 NCAA championship tournament as the nation’s leader in points (61) and goals (30). The senior forward and alternate captain of the Bulldogs is from St. Joseph deBeauce, Quebec.
Lessard was selected to the All-WCHA First Team and was honored with the illustrious award of WCHA Player of the Year for 2003-04. Lessard helped the Bulldogs advance to the Frozen Four for the first time in 11 years. He was rewarded for his efforts by being named to the NCAA Midwest Regional All-Tournament Team.
He was the WCHA co-scoring leader with 19 goals and 20 assists in league play. "If you look at what Junior has done and what he's meant to our team, he was an obvious choice as a finalist," said UMD coach Scott Sandelin, a 1986 Hobey Baker finalist as a senior defenseman at the Univ. of North Dakota. Lessard also ranks tied for second in the NCAA in power play goals with 12; and is fourth in the NCAA in points per game at 1.46. Not withstanding his scoring ability, he is a +22 plus-minus on the season.
Lessard is the sole remaining member of (former head coach) Mike Sertich's recruiting class and has helped the Bulldogs secure the highest WCHA finish (second place) and best regular season finish (23-10-4) since 1992-93. Junior has three hat tricks and seven multiple-goal games to his 2003-04 list of credits.
Suffering a knee injury in the third period of the third-place game against Alaska-Anchorage at the WCHA Final Five, Lessard returned after six days off (despite his questionable status) and scored two goals in Duluth’s 5-0 victory over Michigan State in the NCAA Midwest Regional tournament. Advancing to meet the two-time defending national champion Minnesota Gophers in the regional final, the Bulldogs beat Minnesota for the fifth time in six meetings this year, 3-1, to advance to the 2004 Frozen Four.
Lessard scored twice in the 2004 Frozen Four semifinal, as Minnesota-Duluth lost 5-3 to the University of Denver.
The Hobey Baker Memorial Award annually honors the top player in Division I college hockey in the U.S. The first round of balloting, done by all 58 Division I college coaches and a fan ballot, determined the top ten finalists. These ten names are advanced to the Selection Committee, a geographically balanced group of 25 members made up of media, NHL scouts, college hockey coaches and supervisors of officials. Additionally, a fan vote conducted on-line allows college hockey fans a 1% vote in each round of the balloting. On March 31, the Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists was announced, including senior goalie Yann Danis of Brown Univ. and sophomore forward Zach Parise of the Univ. of North Dakota.
For more information about the Hobey Baker Award, log on to www.hobeybaker.com.
Source: Hobey Baker Award Website
